{"id":3632,"date":"2023-03-31T07:39:38","date_gmt":"2023-03-31T12:39:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/niada.com\/dashboard\/?p=3632"},"modified":"2023-04-03T11:52:38","modified_gmt":"2023-04-03T16:52:38","slug":"sugar-ray-leonard-headlines-niada-accelerate-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/niada.com\/dashboard\/sugar-ray-leonard-headlines-niada-accelerate-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Sugar Ray Leonard headlines NIADA Accelerate 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Gold medalist and the first boxer to win championships in five weight classes, Sugar Ray Leonard is considered one of the top pound for pound fighters to ever lace up the gloves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since leaving the ring, the sports icon has become a best-selling author, television personality and met a calling to help humanity through many philanthropic efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sponsored by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carfax.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CARFAX<\/a>, Leonard will share his drive for success as the keynote speaker for the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association\u2019s Accelerate 2023 Convention and Expo. Leonard will speak at 4:30 p.m. June 20 at the Wynn Las Vegas.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/niada.com\/dashboard\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/03\/Leonard_CAA-Speakers_Photo-1-779x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3633\" width=\"185\" height=\"243\" srcset=\"https:\/\/niada.com\/dashboard\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/03\/Leonard_CAA-Speakers_Photo-1-779x1024.jpg 779w, https:\/\/niada.com\/dashboard\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/03\/Leonard_CAA-Speakers_Photo-1-228x300.jpg 228w, https:\/\/niada.com\/dashboard\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/03\/Leonard_CAA-Speakers_Photo-1-768x1010.jpg 768w, https:\/\/niada.com\/dashboard\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/03\/Leonard_CAA-Speakers_Photo-1-1169x1536.jpg 1169w, https:\/\/niada.com\/dashboard\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/03\/Leonard_CAA-Speakers_Photo-1-1558x2048.jpg 1558w, https:\/\/niada.com\/dashboard\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/03\/Leonard_CAA-Speakers_Photo-1-380x500.jpg 380w, https:\/\/niada.com\/dashboard\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/03\/Leonard_CAA-Speakers_Photo-1-550x723.jpg 550w, https:\/\/niada.com\/dashboard\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/03\/Leonard_CAA-Speakers_Photo-1-800x1052.jpg 800w, https:\/\/niada.com\/dashboard\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/03\/Leonard_CAA-Speakers_Photo-1-1160x1525.jpg 1160w, https:\/\/niada.com\/dashboard\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/03\/Leonard_CAA-Speakers_Photo-1-scaled.jpg 1948w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 185px) 100vw, 185px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Sugar Ray Leonard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Registration for the largest expo and convention for the independent auto dealer is underway at <a href=\"https:\/\/niada.com\/convention\/\">niada.com\/convention<\/a>. Early bird registration ends May 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leonard began boxing at 14, winning three Golden Gloves, two Amateur Athletic Union and the 1975 Pan-American crown, before capturing the gold medal at the 1976 Olympic games in Montreal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To help his family defray mounting medical costs due to his father\u2019s illness, he turned professional following the Olympics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At 20, he won his first professional fight to start his stellar career, which included winning welterweight, junior middleweight, super middleweight, and light heavyweight titles. He fought and won legendary bouts against Wilfred Benetiz, Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns and Marvelous Marvin Hagler in his 20-year career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After retiring from boxing, he provided expert ring commentary on NBC, ABC, FOX, HBO and ESPN, also featured as the international commentator for the record-breaking Mayweather vs. McGregor fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He hosted the Emmy-nominated \u201cThe Contender\u201d and competed on \u201cDancing with the Stars.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2011, Leonard published his autobiography \u201cThe Big Fight: My Life In and Out of the Ring.\u201d In his memoir, he describes his greatest competitor, himself, and confronts his personal battles with depression, rage, addiction and greed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leonard started the The Sugar Ray Leonard Foundation in 2009 with his wife, Bernadette. Since its inception, the foundation has funded countless research projects and offered life-changing patient care for children living with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. The foundation is also committed to helping children lead healthier lives through diet and exercise, equipping them with the tools to be successful in health later on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leonard also raises money for Children\u2019s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) and other children\u2019s charities through his annual \u201cBig Fighters, Big Cause\u201d Charity Boxing Night.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leonard\u2019s keynote address brought to you by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carfax.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CARFAX<\/a> is part of four exciting days of NIADA Accelerate 2023 Convention &amp; Expo\u2019s education, networking, keynote speakers and fun running, June 19<sup>th<\/sup> &nbsp;through the 22nd. For information and to register visit <a href=\"https:\/\/niada.com\/convention\/\">niada.com\/convention<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gold medalist and the first boxer to win championships in five weight classes, Sugar Ray Leonard is considered&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3658,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","csco_appearance_grid":"","csco_page_load_nextpost":"","csco_post_video_location":[],"csco_post_video_location_hash":"","csco_post_video_url":"","csco_post_video_bg_start_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_end_time":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[28,3,8],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3632","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-independent","8":"category-industry","9":"category-niada-news","10":"cs-entry","11":"cs-video-wrap"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/niada.com\/dashboard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/niada.com\/dashboard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/niada.com\/dashboard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/niada.com\/dashboard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/niada.com\/dashboard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/niada.com\/dashboard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3632\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/niada.com\/dashboard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/niada.com\/dashboard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/niada.com\/dashboard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/niada.com\/dashboard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}